The end of my white-knuckling flights?

Given my fear of flying, you might think it odd that I'm getting pretty jazzed about the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner that just started its final assembly in Everett, Washington.

Made out of some sort of revolutionary graphite composite instead of aluminum, it will be the most technologically advanced passenger aircraft in the skies if it makes it's scheduled commercial service debut in 2008. Windows are supposed to be dramatically larger and electronically dimmable if the extra sunlight bothers you. Air is better circulated and retains a bit more moisture than the bone-dry cabin environments of today's planes. The cockpit is state of the art with all kinds of complicated gadgets, wires, and connections that sounds a bit scary when you think about what could go wrong if just one part of the circuit malfunctions.

But all of that isn't why I care. I could care less about the creature comforts added to the cabin space. No, I hate flying because of turbulence. Throw in just one little sudden 10 foot change in altitude, and I'm wimpering like a baby for the rest of the flight. And what's in the new Dreamliner? A top secret computer-controlled flight system that actually detects dramatic altitude changes faster than a human pilot ever could and dampens upward wind gusts "turning a roller-coaster ride in choppy air into one no more bothersome than a drive along a cobblestone street." Now if only they could stop those wings from flapping up and down. Yeah, maybe I'll keep those electronic window shades completely dimmed.

If man was supposed to fly, we'd be born with wings...

As you all probably know, I hate flying. The long waits at the security checkpoint, the cramped seats in coach, the stale air--these are just some of the small nuisances involved in traveling by air these days. But what really bothers me about flying is the fact that I'm scared sh*tless everytime I'm in an airplane. Maybe it's my fear of heights, the roller coaster ride through bad turbulence, or the thought that the wings could just snap off in mid flight. I mean, if you've ever sat and watched the wings out the window as you fly, has anyone else noticed how much those things seem to bounce up and down? Frightening.

Then I watched a wing load test online done on the Boeing 777. I feel a little better now, although something seems flawed in the way they test wings like this. Seems like you'd need less force if you're making the wing flap up and down as it does in real flight and turbulence as opposed to just one force pulling up on it gradually. I know this isn't exactly civil engineering, but seems there should be some similar principle used in bridge making or something. Any of the engineers out there reading know?